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Thursday, April 25, 2019

On a Spring Day: Poetry Friday Roundup

Welcome to the Poetry Friday RoundupI am hosting the last Poetry Friday community gathering of National Poetry Month. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the earth is green. Let's celebrate springtime and poetryliscious poetry!

I live on the south shore of Long Island, a short distance from the beautiful south shore beach, my family's go-to place to visit in any season. There the ocean roars makes lapping sounds, and its boardwalk invites all to walk, reflect on nature, and be inspired. On Palm Sunday, my husband and I traveled to Long Beach, a dense fog settled on the beach, making it impossible to see the ocean. We have never seen such a thick fog settle on the beach in this way. It was an intriguing phenomenon of nature that inspired me to write. You can access my post and poem here. A couple of days later, I created a wordless, nature video and placed it on YouTube and on the Wonderopolis Wonder Ground

For days I continued to think about the foggy day. How could I share my collection of nature photographs? To remind me of my unique spring walk at the beach, I gathered an assortment of gray paint chips (gullwing gray, wish, silver satin, gray clouds, sweatshirt gray, anchor gray, overcoat) and drafted a paint-chip poem. 

        
Sweatshirt-Gray Day

Gray clouds hover
upon my silver wish.
Gullwings of satin-
gray dip and swish.

Silver haze coats
sweatshirted skies.
Gray clouds linger-
nature's surprise.

My heart flutters.
Gray gullwings fly.
Fog sits in majesty,
wonder of the sky.
©CV, 2019

INVITATION:
I invite you to view my wordless, music video, Into the Fog Seaside Walk, created with the Lomotif app. If interested, write a poem to accompany my video?  (Click below to view the video.)


I look forward to reading through all the offerings for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup! 


PLEASE NOTE:

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets' link-up moved to a new address.
Please see this week's Poetry Friday Roundup poetic offerings HERE.
(If you are trying to link-up, please click on the word HERE to add your blog post.)

66 comments:

  1. "sweatshirted skies" - this is so so perfect. The other day I was driving through fog, and these right here are the words I needed. Thank you, Carol, for hosting today and for your video too. Happy wondrous, surprising fog. What a gift it is to find joy in such sky bits. xx

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    1. Amy, it is so fun to use paint chips to create a poem. I shared this strategy with teachers who had several options to create poetry at creation stations I set up for them. Some were eager to try it and others opted for prose. Thanks for your comment. I must have revised this poem at least 5 times before placing it for comment.

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  2. I do love the idea of sweatshirt softness in the fog, in the sky and on the beach. How soothing and how free it is to be in a sweatshirt. I think I literally took a relaxing breath as I read your poem. The gathered gray paint chips. What a neat idea. Usually, gray is not celebrated. Today it is. Thank you for closing out National Poetry Month.

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    1. Linda, I have not seen another day like the one I described so it was special to me. I fell in love with the paint chip, Sweatshirt Gray and like you and Amy knew it was the right word to showcase what I saw. Hooray for gray as a color of tranquility and serenity!

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  3. Foggy beach days are some of my favorites! You did a lovely job capturing them in your poem, in your photos, and in your videos. How clever to turn to paint chip colors to help you capture this moment. Thanks so much for hosting today!

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    1. Molly, I am experiencing another sweatshirt-gray day but there is an added twist that I will write about at another time. I wonder if you ever captured a foggy beach day through the lens of your camera. If so, it would be fun to swap photos or maybe we can swap photos of our beaches and write poetry. Kay and I did that with railroad photos and it was such a fun collaborative practice.

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  4. How is it that the image of a gray sweatshirt is somehow so universal?? Love this, Carol...you've just allowed me to visit York Beach, ME for a few minutes.

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    1. Matt, I am glad that my poem gave you moments of recollected times to ponder. Thanks for joining me here today and also for your first line in the PP. What an interesting adventure has unfolded so far.

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  5. Thank you for hosting! Say hello to the gulls for me.

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    1. Little Willow, thanks for joining Poetry Friday and leaving a comment. The gulls at the beach are beautiful creatures when in their watchful state but when they swoop in on summer beach food, they cause a ruckus.

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    2. Since I do know how to leave a comment at the end of your blog, I tweeted your post out.

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  6. It is amazing how different everything looks on a grey day! (We're experiencing one here today, on account of much-needed, much appreciated mizzling-drizzling weather. Though there is a definite tint of green underlying our grey.) I too am caught by that 'gray sweatshirt' - though we'd call it a grey jumper. :)

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    1. Gray sweatshirt becomes a grey jumper-I always love connecting with you as I learn how the other side of the world lives, Kat. I am intrigued that your gray day has a tint of green. It makes me think about my experience at the paint store when choosing a gray paint. Since our tiles were a greenish hue, I needed to find a complimentary paint. We settled on a soft gray with a hint of green.

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  7. Love your poem and video! Enjoyed seeing your part of the world too :). Thanks so much for hosting this week!

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    1. I can remember the first time I hosted Poetry Friday. There were so many jitters because I was a newbie. Now, I get excited thinking about all of the wonderful poetry I am about to read, Jama. Thank you for all of your support, your publicity calendar, and your rich posts.

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  8. Your poem is wonderful, Carol, and those pictures/video, wow. We almost never have fog here & I find it so magical. I'm always jealous when you show ocean pics, lucky you! Thanks for hosting!

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    1. Oops, and I love the poem's title, just perfect, that "Sweatshirt-Gray Day"!

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    2. Thanks, Linda, for always writing such lovely comments, making sure that you remark on all aspects of a blog post. I have read many of your comments that you write for many writers. You give the gifts of patience and caring in such a collegial way. If the weather is good this weekend, I want to take another walk at the beach.

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  9. I love your image of the Gullwings and especially the "Gullwings of satin-" What a beautiful poem you created out of the fog. I like the solitary images in your video–you've made the fog inviting from these images and your poem. Thanks for hosting today!

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    1. Michelle, thanks for your comments about my poem. It would be interesting to see how you visualize a foggy day through your beautiful drawings.

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  10. Carol, the alliteration in your poem is so pretty: gray gulls, sweatshirted skies, and all the /s/ and /g/ sounds whisper throughout the poem I know the gray cast a muted color over you "silver wish" but your imagery is lovely, which makes me long to walk along a foggy beach.

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    1. Thanks, Glenda. I am so glad that you joined Poetry Friday today. I hope you continue sharing your thoughts with us.

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  11. I too love your poem. I am impressed by how you created it, and must add it to my collection of ideas for how to use paint chips. I especially love your title of Sweatshirt Gray Day. Here in Vancouver Canada, we get many foggy over cast days and if you can't find comfort in them, you better move somewhere else!

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    1. Cheriee, I am glad that you have found comfort with the Vancouver weather. My husband told me that it is gorgeous there. Thank you for your comment about my poem. I hope you do play with paint chjps to get ideas for a poem.

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  12. Carol love the paint chip research underpinning your poem. It has helped to ground your poem, your chosen words. Grey has been, in a sense, recoloured by your inspired word choice. Thank you for hosting too.

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    1. Thanks, Alan for your comment that validates my use of paint chips to inspire a poem based on my experience.

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  13. Love those 'gray gullwings'! And your sweatshirt-comfy poem and post; I'll revisit later to do more exploring. We do have fog from time to time; I remember, after moving here to the Lowcountry, being intrigued that The Weather channel app on my phone alerted us to "sea fog" conditions. (Certainly didn't have that in the foothills of the mountains!) Thanks so much for your thoughtful words and pictures, and for hosting everyone today!

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    1. Robyn, I love hearing about your new location. Weather app alerts you to sea fog-that is an interesting fact. Thank you for commenting and please do more exploring. There is a wealth of poetryliscious richness at PF today.

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  14. Beautiful poem. I love the paint chips idea.I love 'gull wings'. We live in the mountains (not by the ocean) but morning fog is frequent, especially in spring and fall. Sometimes it's so thick you can hear it, like raindrops:
    Listen to the sound.
    Fog drips, dribbles, trickles down.
    Morning silence surrounds.

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    1. Yvona, your poem is filled with such a beautiful visual ending in the line, "Morning silence surrounds." I just finished choosing a title for Spiritual Journey first Thursday's writing on May 2nd. Your ending validates that I chose the right title. Do you have a photo of the fog you witness in the mountains? I would love to showcase your thoughts and photo in one of my blogs with credit to you, of course.

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  15. Hi Carol! Thanks for hosting. Your home sounds like it's a very poem-inspiring location :-)

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    1. Long Island is a beautiful place to live during all seasons but the taxes are way too high. Young people cannot afford to move in. That is sad, Tabatha.

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  16. Good morning, Carol, and thank you for hosting today! Those paint chip colors sure did inspire some great lines: "Gullwings of satin-/gray dip and swish" and "sweatshirted skies" are, indeed, poetryliscious.

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    1. I was just replying to Liz Steinglass how the paint chip colors inspired me as I paired them with my photos. Thank you for using my special word, poetryliscious, in your comment. I am honored that you did.

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  17. Appreciations, dear Carol
    for posting PF in the final Friday of Poetry Month in such a colorful way. We don't often think of fog to describe it as being color - FUL but you have shown us that is not so!
    In the video I especially am drawn to the lone bike against the wood boardwalk railing.
    And the poem & video take me out to the gulf shore boardwalks which don't flow
    parallel to the sands, but go directly out like fingers, to keep us off the unusual North Florida dunes.
    I am frequently not a paint chip poem person, but yours is an atmospheric soak that makes me rethink if my gull wings are too clipped! It's beautiful.

    Happy 2019 Poetry Month, dear Carol!

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    1. Jan, your comment was full of such descriptors. I especially like your line on my paint chip poem, "an atmospheric soak." Your comments are always filled with personal touches and humor.

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  18. Hi Carol, thanks so much for hosting! Your photos are gorgeous. I too love gull wings of satin gray and sweatshirted skies. Happy National Poetry Month!

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    1. Thanks, Liz for your comment. I was so fortunate to be able to get good photos from my trip into the fog. I could barely see my lens so I tried to accurately shoot in the direction I wanted. I made several stops at restrooms to take a look at what I shot and make sure something was there. I walked away with several good photos that I decided to digitize to give more of an artsy feel to them. It is amazing how paint chip titles can stir emotions when paired with the right photos.

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  19. Carol, that fog is CRAZY! Thanks so much for the photographic journey. I love how beautiful all those "grey" words are. Thank you! xo

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    1. Gray is such a comforting color that I used in in my finished basement level. When I saw the foggy gray color I was swept away with the beauty. I was so inspired to take photos (blindly because I could not see my area of focus) and then write about the phenomenon. The fog was so beyond CRAZY-a one of kind experience for me at the beach.

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  20. What a beautiful poem, Carol. I especially love sweatshirted skies-- that's a phenomenal paint chip poem! I love the beach, and I especially love it in non-traditional beach weather:)

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    1. Laura, I thank you my friend for the lovely compliments. The beach is such a special place for my family. We've walked in all seasons on the different boardwalks but Palm Sunday was a special walk as we kept looking at the fog in yonder spaces.

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  21. I love how you wove those paint chip words to capture the eerie beauty of the fog along the beach. We have woken up to fog over our pond several mornings this spring, but I haven't seen fog along the beach very often.

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    1. Kay, remembering our collaboration on the railroad theme, I see that you also have a similar scene to ponder-fog over your pond. While I do not see many ponds around here and fog at the beach was a first for me, I would love to read a poem you might compose. Have a great weekend.

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  22. Thanks for doing the roundup this week. I LOVE your poem!

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    1. Thank you for joining me here, Elaine. I appreciate your comments. You inspired me to write rhyming acrostic poems. Many thanks.

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  23. I love the paint chip idea--what a creative way to use those descriptive color names! I especially enjoy the image of gull wings that "dip and swish." I'm a fan of the fog over Lake Michigan, which makes the water invisible and the scene eerie and mysterious.

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    1. JoAnn, I would love to see a photo of Lake Michigan's fog. It is so interesting that you experienced what I did. Are you offering a poem for Poetry Friday? You can add it anytime during the weekend.

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  24. I loved reading about the whole process that went into this poem, Carol! I felt as if I were meandering through it all with you. Thank you!

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    1. Thanks for taking that walk with me, Karen. It is always good to have a soulmate on a walk, especially one that talks the language of poetry.

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  25. Beautiful, Carol! I "traveled" back to Maine - down to Reid - in my mind. Love the feel of fog on my face and the sound of unseen waves crashing.

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    1. Donna, I am so glad that my post allowed you to go home for brief moments. Your virtual trip to Maine sounds like it would lead to a poem in rhyme.

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  26. Wow, a paint chip poem; I LOVE that idea! And you wove the paint colors into your poem so seamlessly. I especially loved the phrase "sweatshirted skies."

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    1. Thank you, Michelle for commenting. I do love paint chip poetry. It has a way of opening new doors and visuals for writing. If you would like to offer a poem for the Poetry Friday Roundup, please do anytime this weekend.

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  27. Thank you for the fog immersion--I love when fog rolls in and changes the world!

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    1. Fog immersion-what a great thought that could work its way into another poem, Holly. Thanks for checking in from the other side of the world.

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  28. Love your paint-chip poem, Carol! You crafted each line so beautifully!. Thank you for reaching out and inviting me to your space this week!
    xx

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    1. Kiesha, thank you for joining in. I hoped you would. I did spend time revising the poem-probably about 5 times or more until I felt it was ready for public viewing. I was so fortunate to have this experience and paint chips to encourage me to choose the right words. Have a great weekend.

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  29. Love your entire poem, but especially these lines: "Fog sits in majesty,/wonder of the sky." We have lots of gray days and my daughter loved to say that she missed her gray blanket when she went away to college. Gray blanket or gray sweatshirt - both provide comfort. I played with paint chip words today to write a poem, something I've wanted to do all month.

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    1. Ramona, I am still making the rounds of Poetry Friday but wanted to comment on your comment before reading your post. Since you are now a player of paint chip poetry, think about adding a paint chip poem to your Slice of Life and Spiritual Journey first Thursday post. Thank you for finding lines from my post that resonated with you. You are the first to comment on the end of the poem. Those words about the fog came straight from what I felt about what I saw.

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  30. I love your gray poem! That image of the sky wearing a gray sweatshirt is particularly lovely. I enjoyed your music, too--and I love the background for your blog. I also have favorite spots in nature to walk in and refresh myself. I moved just over a month ago and have already found a couple new walks that make me happy and renewed. Thanks for sharing your favorite spot--and for hosting.

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    1. Susan, it has been fun chatting with you at your blog about the art of wondering.Thanks for your comments about my poem. Today, the sky is a shade of blueish gray and it is windy (thinking about your W poem). Where do you live?

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  31. Carol, I love every single bit of your gray poem! Your craft is evident in every carefully chosen word and hyphen, in the rhythm and rhyme, in the way you paint a picture for my imagination! Two thumbs up! You make cloudy and foggy seem magical rather than dreary!

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    1. Mary Lee, I am so pleased that you liked my gray poem. I am honored that you think so. #PlayWithPoetryNPM

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  32. I love your gray fog poem. It made me remember watching a fog come in one evening on the Pacific. I was standing on our balcony on the second floor of the Inn of Four Winds that is right at the edge of the beach. I watched the fog roll in from the edge of the surf, across the sand, over a brief stretch of sea grass, to the first floor of the Inn. It was so dense. I could hear the surf but could not see it. The amazing part -- the very dense fog stayed low to the ground and I could see the night sky and stars above it the whole time (from my second story balcony).

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    1. Alice, your story sounds like a great start for a slice. Thank you for sharing that with me.

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